Help Merissa return to her beloved internship!

Please help Merissa MacDonald continue on in her second year of apprenticeship at a public botanical garden. It is vitally important to support this uniquely talented and hardworking young black mom to continue honing her talent in her chosen field of horticulture, an art that celebrates the joy and beauty of the human connection to the land. A year ago, she bravely left her long time job working in a restaurant to follow her dream of a job in the horticulture field to satisfy her love for plants, design and her scientific curiosity. Traditionally, a career option only for people who look very different than her.

She worked with incredible drive her first season, all while suddenly finding herself expecting a baby at the start of her apprenticeship. She completed the job with athletic endurance, thoughtfulness, and joy up to her eighth month of pregnancy, blowing everyone’s mind and expectations out of the water. She would like to return for her second season at this garden where she has made great connections. However, she lacks the out of pocket cash required to cover the first couple months of childcare for her two dependent children, including the newborn until her subsidy would kick in. In order to get a childcare subsidy, you must apply after you have begun your work and get on a waitlist. It often takes roughly 2 months to be covered. As many parents know, it is often more expensive to work than to stay at home. Please help Merissa at this turning point in her and her children’s life, as she develops a career that will involve a close relationship with the land, skills of self-sufficiency and ecological repair that she can share with her family and community.